8.23 - Friday Night is My Morning

Intros suck.  I'm either feeling the creative flow.. or I'm not.  I'm not really right now, so suck it, Trebek. Here's the beer

Central Waters Brewing - Peruvian Morning (2012)
an 8.5% ABV Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with freshly roasted Peruvian coffee (roasted in the US)  Slightly scared here.. bought from a cellar sale and almost everyone I've talked to had an infected bottle.  Here goes nothing!  Rich coffee black pour with a very thin head.. pours very light for a so-called Imperial Stout.. hell even 8.5% is low for an 'Imperial'  but hey..  whatever, man.  The nose on this is nothing shy of phenomenal..  rich, fresh brewed espresso with tons of vanilla and a subtle bourbon oak note.  The 'lightness' follows through to the body.. it drinks like a normal porter.. but with way, way more to it.  It tastes exactly how you'd expect having smelled this brew.  Amazing roasted espresso flavors mingle with vanilla cream notes, chocolate malts.. toffee, plum/raisin fruit notes, brown sugar..  all with the underlying oaky bourbon bite.  It's very subtle which is a nice departure from some of the BB beers you'll encounter.  There was a slight off taste to this.. but it seemed to be a sour funk.. and only very very slight.  It may or may not be infected.. but I ain't tasting anything that wouldn't make me want to dump even a drop down the drain.  The roasty sweet finish makes me sad this is only a 12oz bottle!  (totally contrary to everything I've said lately..  oh well!)

- - 9 Hops!

8.22 - Iconic

Come home from working 2 jobs.. almost 12 working hours.. 15+ hour day.  Yeah, it's beer time!

Saint Arnold's Brewery - ICON - Cascadian Dark Ale

a 7.0% ABV Cascadian Dark (Black-ish IPA) that was sent as a thank you for helping someone out.  so why not, it's as good of a time as any!  as dark of a pour as you'd expect from any Stout, similar head as well.. dark and mocha.  There's just what you'd expect in a Black IPA in the nose.. some roasty coffee malts, honey sweetness, and some rich piney hops of course!  As it warms, more and more richer, roasty chocolate malts come through, thicker and sweet.  The IPA aspect is the part the hits the tongue first.. bold piney hops, a touch resinous with an underlying earthy, mossy tone.  As the beer warms, this fades out and the roasty malts grab your taste buds.   Coffee, black chocolate and toffee..  all on the light side, as this is partly an IPA, you hooligans!  This balances out the bold hops nicely and provides that slight touch of sweetness that draws you in for another sip.  Not my favorite style, but this is a very nice example the style.

- - 8 Hops!

8.20 - Another Incredible Tasting

These tasting groups are starting to get interesting!  Stuff I've never seen, stuff I've only heard about, stuff I've been wanting to try..  blah blah blah.. let's get to the beer!

in the order they were opened and consumed:

Cigar City - Cucumber Saison  --  a 6.0% ABV  20 IBU Saison brewed with fresh cucumbers.  Interesting to say the least.  Had a fresh juiciness to it that you would attribute to biting into a farm-fresh cucumber.. like salad in a beer.  Sounds weird, but it works.  Was a touch cool tonight, but this would be fantastic on a blistering hot summer day.  Enough yeast comes through to give it that dry, traditional aspect..  I actually dig it!    - -   8 Hops!!

Birra Tenute Collesi - Imper Ale Maior Nera  --  an 8.0% ABV Belgian Dark from an Italian brewery.  A total surprise.. a great, rich, sweet Belgian.. something of a cross between a Dubbel and a Quad.  Tons of nice plum and toffee notes, hidden ABV.  Super smooth and very nice    - -    7 Hops!!

Battle Road - Barrett's Farmhouse Ale  --  a 5.5% ABV Saison/Farmhouse from one of MA's newest breweries.  Typical Farmhouse nose.. a touch less barnyard funk that I'd expect and even less yeasty notes. Lacks what I'd hope for in the style.. just highly carbonated, citrusy, bright pale ale    - -    6 Hops!

Crooked Letter Brewing - Mystery Romp  --  a 6.5% ABV Coffee Porter.  750ml growler, filled from a fresh keg by a trader in MS.  Terrific roasty, iced coffee nose.  A touch thin for what I'd expect from a Porter, but it works with the coffee aspect, making it more drinkable than I'd expect a fuller bodied one to be.  Again, like iced coffee - huge roasty notes with sweet vanilla and milk chocolate..  winner of the tasting for me, at least.  DANG!    - -    9 Hops!

Goose Island -  Night Stalker  --   an 11.7% ABV  60 IBU Imperial Stout - actually shares the same base beer as Bourbon County Brand Stout, but is dry-hopped like a mofo.  Knowing it was dry-hopped beforehand really helps my perception of this..  the hopping is very noticeable, even in such a big beer. Normally, the hops and a big, roasty, chocolate bomb like this wouldn't be my thing, but its all very very balanced.  Very cool to try and very nicely done!    - -     9 hops!!

8.19 - Tropical Storm Xavier

I've been really getting into sours lately.. and I have my goddamn trading group to blame for that.  Bastards, introducing me to great beer that I couldn't possibly try otherwise!  What jerks!

Newport Storm - Cyclone Series (Xavier) 

a 7.0% ABV 45 IBU Flanders-style Red with cherries added.  Interesting to see such a small player in the New England craft scene attempt a Flanders.. and not a natural one at that.  They force-soured it, as in added microorganisms to speed up the souring process.  Can go very good.. or can go very very bad.  A bright blood orange pour with absolutely no head, even with a hard pour.  Not a good sign..  Part of the tartness can be enhanced by the beer's carbonation.  There's a lactic sour note to the nose with hints of a cherry sweetness.  Fairly faint nose however.  As for the taste.. well..  remember how I said that forced souring can go one of two ways.. well it went the second way, for sure.. in a big way.  This is just bad.  The sourness is basically non-existent, along with the carbonation.  What we end up with is a watered-down cherry soda...definitely a let down.   I have one more..maybe we'll see if some age helps the sour

- - 4 Hops

8.12 - A Backwoods Blast

Trading is fun!  Ever seen this?  Didn't think so.  New beer from a Southern brewery.  Online trader says is the best thing they've ever put out..  so what do I do?  I send them some Backlash Belgian beers.. and get some Backwoods Belgian in return!

Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company - Backwoods Belgian

an 8.5% ABV Belgian-style Strong Pale Ale.  Another big beer in a small format..  YAY!  A very nice hazy golden yellow pour with a small, but full head.  Rather big nose, with a fair amount of Belgian yeast notes - banana, clove.. touches of bubblegum, hay, and fresh-cut grass.. and faint rye/spice.  It's a bigger Belgian, for sure, fuller-bodied and creamy, if you want to call it that.  Tons of banana, clove and bubblegum (of course)  There's only a faint presence of the booze, just enough to remind you that you ain't drinkin' no sissy beer.  It's bright, but has a nice roundedness to it with touches of spice and grassy hops to balance out the fantastic Belgian flavors.  It's got that fruity, barnyard type finish with more hay, a bit of funk, clove, pepper and more bubblegum.  A very very solid Belgian-style ale from America's southern states.. impressive!

- - 7 Hops!

8.11 - Rats in the Cellar

DUAL MEANINGS!  look at my writing skills!  I has them!

the title of this post relates to both the name of the brewery AND the fact I bough this beer from a cellar sale.  I'm so dang witty, ain't I?  Now let's drink, dammit!

Cellar Rats Brewery - Black Rat Imperial Stout 

a 9.2% ABV Imperial Stout.   I personally love seeing these higher ABV beers in 12oz format.  Funny how the majority of them end up in 22oz bombers or 750ml cork-and-cage..  sometimes that can be just too damn much beer, even for someone like me.  Heavy heavy carb on this one left me having to pour a few times and still ended up with almost a 2 inch head.  Opaque brown/black with a strong sweet chocolate nose, a lot of vanilla and hints of bourbon (although this was not barrel-aged at all).  They call it an Imperial Milk Stout - certainly fits that style.  It's slick and medium-bodied, like blending Hersey's syrup with Kahlua. The obvious milk chocolate, with some smooth oatmeal flavors, sweetness from vanilla beans and iced Dunkins coffee.  It gets a bit thicker as the beer warms..  more dark, bitter chocolate and some bourbon-esque bite.  So slick but sweet on the finish.  Again, happy to see higher ABV beers in smaller bottles.. but this one.. this one I wish I had a 22oz'er of.  So delicious!

- - 7 Hops!

8.8 - Motherfucking ZOMBIE DUST

God, I love beermail days!  I was finally able to get hooked up with this fantastic beer!

Three Floyds - Zombie Dust

a 6.4% ABV 60 IBU single-hop American Pale Ale.  I've heard so many amazing things about this beer, and a beer that showcases Citra hops should live up to the hype, right?   Within 30 minutes of coming home from work, I had unpacked this box and chilled a beer down.  This was bottled a little over a week prior and I got a solid hook-up on this.. so why the fuck not.  A great orange pour with a pure-white thick head.  Upon cracking, the Citra hops fly from the bottle.  Show me a beer geek that doesn't love Citra and I'll show you a macro fan.  It's impossible not to love that hop..   Tropical, citrus, touches of pine, mango, papaya..  wow.  There's the faintest honey cracker malts holding it all together.  The taste and body.. bubbly and light for such a high ABV "APA"  (can it even be an APA with this much alcohol and hops?!!?) with the most epic Citra kick you could ever dream of.  Tons of citrus, followed by the barely-there malt sweetness like honey nut cheerios that have sat in the milk too long, followed up by a sharp, assertive, but appealing citrus hop bite.  It's almost impossible to accurately describe this beer besides saying 'holy fuck-tits, you goddamn Citra-faced whore'.. or something along those lines.  Simply epic

- - 10 HOPS!!!

  

8.3 - Sweaty Buffalos and the Buttes of the Great Northwest

I'm starting to feel like I don't drink anything local anymore.. I trade and have beer sent to me so goddamn much lately, it's sort of ridiculous..

Tallgrass Brewing - Buffalo Sweat

a 5.0% ABV 20 IBU Oatmeal Cream Stout.  Personally, I love the tallboy cans.. every brewery should have one!  So perfect for a beer transport vessel.  This pours a great rich, deep brown/black with the expected mocha head, very minimal despite a heavy pour.  Vanilla aroma with sweet nuttiness and mocha/milk chocolate (subdued).  Exactly what I would hope for from this style, although just a hair mellow.  It's a very light beer for such a potentially hearty style... I hate to say it, because it's so anti-stout.. this is almost a touch watery!  GASP! Smooth and creamy from the oatmeal with more vanilla and hints of coffee, chocolate and hazelnuts.  It has a bitter chocolate and faintly roasty finish that's on the dry edge with a touch of sweet. Goes down far too easy.. would be a great every day Stout

- - 7 Hops!

Deschutes - Black Butte Porter
a 5.2% ABV 30 IBU Porter that is surprisingly the brewery's flagship beer.  Yes, a Porter as the face of Deschutes..  incredibly unique for any brewery.  But this can live up to that status!  As black as a Stout with a fairly large tan head...  tons of roasty coffee with bitter black chocolate.  Nothing else on the nose, exactly how it should be.  It's smooth with a nice roasty, bitter bite.  There's more body than you'd expect from 5%, but not too much for the style.  The expectant chocolate, nutty, coffee flavors..  all in fantastic balance. Nothing overpowers anything else.. there's hints of vanilla and a faint smokiness on the finish.  This is just what a Porter should be.  No gimmicks, just damned good beer

- - 8 Hops!

Deschutes - Obsidian Stout

a 6.4% ABV 55 IBU Stout.  Similar to the Black Butte, this has a well-known reputation to uphold.  Another pitch black pour with a huge, Guinness-like fluffy head.  Thick, sweet, roasty malts come to the nose with heavy milk chocolate notes.. touches of vanilla, tobacco, oatmeal.  It's full and smells delicious, but doesn't have anything that overpowers (I'm sensing a trend with Deschutes' beers..)  As you would expect, it has a full body, a touch on the creamy side, but far less than an oatmeal stout.  Chocolate and coffee are at the forefront of the taste with vanilla and maple syrup lending some sweetness to round out the roasty bitterness.  There's oatmeal, molasses, some charcoal and tobacco.  For a simple 'regular' Stout.. this has a lot going on, but again, all remains well-balanced.  A simple underlying grassy hop flavor is tough to pick out, but easiest when this beer is colder.  Smooth and full on the finish with more roast/black coffee bitterness.  Tons of flavor for a non-imperial or anything extra Stout.

- - 8 Hops!